Calla Mcleod

Heart Over Hype: The Steady Game of Calla McLeod

She started at five, learned the game’s real meaning during a pandemic, and now plays for something bigger than the box score.

Some players find basketball later in life. Calla McLeod was practically raised in it. Her dad and brother were her first coaches, teammates, and biggest cheerleaders, introducing her to the sport when she was just five years old. It didn’t take long for basketball to stop being a pastime and start becoming part of who she was. “I fell in love with it pretty much right away,” she says.

By Grade 6, she was suiting up for her first club game — the moment when competition stopped being just a word adults used. “That’s when I knew I wanted to take it seriously,” she says.

Then came the curveball: COVID. Empty gyms, Zoom workouts, and all the isolation that steals rhythm from a sport built on connection. “That was the toughest challenge,” she says. “Not being able to practice with my team.” But in the quiet, she learned something essential — that basketball isn’t just about scoring or having good games. “It’s about leadership,” she says. “About being there for your teammates, even when you’re not the one hitting shots.”

That lesson stuck. These days, Calla measures success not just by the win column but by the relationships she builds. “My teammates and friends are what drive me,” she says. “Even on hard days, I play for them.” Her goal this season? Help the team win a championship, and do it in a way that brings everyone closer along the way.

It fits her style — all effort, no ego. She’s the type of player who celebrates someone else’s bucket like it was her own, who does the little things that don’t make highlight reels but make the team better.

Off the court, she loves being part of the school and team community. “That’s one of the biggest reasons I love basketball,” she says. “I’ve always loved being part of something bigger than myself.”

Her advice for anyone just starting out is classic Calla — equal parts humble and honest:

“You don’t have to be the best to be successful. You just have to be willing to work hard.”

That’s the legacy she hopes to leave behind — not stats or banners, but effort, reliability, and love for the game. “I just want to be remembered as someone who always tried her hardest and did everything she could to help the team win.”

Calla McLeod isn’t chasing stardom. She’s chasing connection, consistency, and the kind of basketball that lasts long after the buzzer.